


poems & constellations

by WhyAmICrying



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Enemies to Lovers, F/F, Well - Freeform, angsty, fluff? I think, for each other, i'm on crack, not really - Freeform, penelope park COME BACK TO ME, posie - Freeform, slight AU, they were never enemies, they're soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-29
Updated: 2019-03-29
Packaged: 2019-12-26 06:15:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18277457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhyAmICrying/pseuds/WhyAmICrying
Summary: after a frustrating day, josie liked to cool off in the library... only to find penelope park in her favorite spot.enemies to lovers, well not really. josie claims to hate penelope, but we all know that's a lie.





	poems & constellations

**Author's Note:**

> hi plz PLZ don't judge me
> 
> ty, please give me constructive criticism on this. like literally, tear my fanfic to shreds. anyways, i spent like 4 days on this cause im on CRACK yep, that's what i'm on. so what?? 
> 
> enjoy, i hope u have a wonderful day
> 
> (this is slightly rushed anyways)

Josie Saltzman was frustrated. Beyond frustrated; angrily, disgustingly, frustrated. Why? Why did it have to be her of all people? Josie just wanted peace and quiet but no, SHE had to come and invade every single braincell of her’s. Her sanctuary. Her safe space. Currently being occupied by the one and only, Penelope Park.

 

See, Josie was having a particularly bad day; she can’t just keep dealing with everyone’s problems without dealing with her own, can she? Always putting others first before herself. That’s why she cools down in the deepest corner of the library, but she can’t even do that without running into her mortal enemy, Penelope Park, who by the way, was sitting in her favorite spot.

 

 _Are you kidding me? This devil? In my spot?_ Josie thinks to herself. She was growing more frustrated by the minute.

 

So she does what every reasonable, angsty teen would do.

 

Actually no, this is Josie Saltzman, the selfless sweetheart of The Salvatore Boarding School we’re talking about. She isn’t going to kick Penelope off of her favorite seat, she can’t do that. Even when her heart hurts from anger and hatred. She just wants to sit down and read her stupid book about poems (Okay, so it isn’t stupid, she’s unashamedly in love with everything poetry).

 

Too caught up in her thoughts that were running too fast for her liking, Penelope looks up at her.

 

“Hello Saltzman.” Penelope says, doing a little wave.

 

Josie doesn’t even answer, she’s still caught up in her thoughts. How embarrassing.

 

“Saltzman? Earth to Saltzman,” Penelope says, a little louder, maybe she was starting to get a little worried.

 

Josie blinks, oh yeah, she’s been spacing out a little bit. Maybe this, “bottling your feelings,” thing isn’t the healthiest thing for her.

 

“Hey Park,” Josie says, trying to keep her cool. She continues, “You’re in my favorite spot, but since you’re already sitting there, do you mind if I just sit next to you?”.

 

“Last time I checked Saltzman, you hated me. Now you want to sit next to me? What kind of dream am I living in?” Penelope teases, she pushes the chair across from her out using her leg and gestures with her hand out.

 

Josie rolls her eyes, not having the energy to argue with her, she mumbles a simple “thanks” to Penelope. She takes her seat, opens her book to a random page and takes her notebook out to take notes. She just wants to lose herself in the world of poetry.

 

As she reads a poem by Robert Frost (more specifically “Acquainted with the Night”), she hears a soft chuckle across from her.

 

“What do you want Park?” Josie whispers, it’s a library after all. She’s starting to get frustrated again, why can’t she just have some peace and quiet?

 

“Do you know what your face looks like when you’re way into something?” Penelope replies, she smiles softly to herself and looks back at her book. “Plus, poetry? What are you? A nerd?”

 

Josie blushes out of embarrassment and anger. Much to her chagrin, she defends herself, “It’s what I like to read when I’m particularly not having the... greatest day”. She then looks over to Penelope’s book and scoffs, “Plus, stars? What are you? A nerd?”

 

Penelope laughs, like actually laughs. Maybe Josie blushes, wait no. She literally hates Penelope, why does she hate her again? Oh yeah, it’s because she always invades her thoughts merely from existing. She’s so annoying, always breathing and shit.

 

“You got me there Saltzman. We may not be on the greatest terms, and I don’t know why, because I’m an angel, but if you wanna talk about your day I’m all ears”, Penelope offers.

 

“HA! Me? Talking to you? You wish,” Josie deflects. That shatters Penelope’s heart, just the teensiest. See, Josie doesn’t like talking about herself, she doesn’t like opening up (refer back to how, “bottling your feelings”, isn’t the healthiest thing ever). Deep down, Josie was surprised. Why would Penelope even offer this? They argued all the time; actually, it was mostly Josie arguing. Now, Josie feels pretty bad.

 

“I- I’m sorry. I just- I would rather not talk about it.” Josie apologizes. She goes back to her book. They don’t say anything after that.

 

After a few minutes, Penelope puts her book down.

 

“What poem are you reading?”, Penelope asks. She’s genuinely interested, which throws Josie off.

 

She answers, “I’m reading ‘Acquainted with the Night’ by Robert Frost, it’s pretty, uh dark? No, not really. I’m kind of taking notes of his writing and it’s just ugh- it’s so amazing. I don’t entirely understand his work but I- I’m rambling aren’t I?”. Josie blushes, she get’s pretty carried away.

 

Penelope giggles, “Don’t worry, it’s pretty cute. What is it about?”.

 

This time, Josie blushes even more, _this stupid fuckign bitch ic ant stand her._ She composes herself;

 

“Well, Robert Frost typically revolves his poems about emotions in the form of nature. The one I’m reading in specific though, ‘Acquainted with the Night’, revolves around the speaker walking through the darkest street - here, take a look - you might think he’s just being a creep walking by himself in the dark, but this, this is the magic of figurative language and imagery. The speaker experiences loneliness to such a degree, that he becomes friend with the ‘night’, aka the loneliness. Don’t you think that’s a little ironic? How he just becomes content and friends with the loneliness! And he’s okay with this?” Josie finishes, waiting for Penelope’s answer. After analyzing this whole poem and expressing her feelings towards it to Penelope… To Penelope, her enemy, she oddly feels calmer.

 

Penelope looks up to her and says, “This might sound weird, but I can understand where the speaker is coming from. I mean, he befriends someone - or rather, something-, that he’s not supposed to befriend, and yet he does it anyways”.

 

Josie only smiles at her, and goes back to her book. They fall into this silence that they would prefer not to break.

 

This is their routine, they meet up every Friday night to fall into this content silence. Occasionally breaking it to talk to each other about their books, or anything that did NOT revolve around their day. It was an unspoken rule for them, they never spoke about their day, because if they did, that meant they’re becoming friends, right? And Josie didn’t want that, no, Penelope Park will always remain as her enemy.

 

This goes on for weeks, until one particular day where Josie couldn’t hold it in anymore.

 

She arrives late to their unspoken meeting, face stained with tears. Just after having another argument with Lizzie, being the one always - always ridden with guilt. She can’t keep doing this to herself, why does she always do this to herself? Why did they fight again? Oh yeah, this time it was because Lizzie found out that Josie started to hang out with Penelope Park (Satan’s Incarnate) every Friday at 6 PM for the past four weeks. A whole month before Lizzie found out. So, Josie comes to the library to escape.

 

She sits quietly in her seat, not bothering to exchange hellos with Penelope. Actually, she can’t recall a time where she ever said hello to her.

 

Composing herself and using her sleeve to wipe any stray tears, she opens her book. This is where Penelope notices her.

 

She doesn’t ask her if she’s okay, she knows she isn’t okay. So, she does something drastic instead.

 

“Josie, I want you to follow me somewhere”, Penelope softly says, grabbing Josie’s book to close it.

 

Josie doesn’t say anything, sure she hates Penelope Park, but she trusts her too. It’s a weird relationship they have going on.

 

Penelope packs her things, and Josie’s things too. She gets up from her spot and leads Josie to the roof.

 

“Welcome to my humble abode, well no- okay just welcome, yeah, welcome. This is just the place I like to go when I’m not feeling, er, well,” Penelope mumbles, starting to feel insecure of her tiny little spot on the roof. No one knows of this place, not even Hope or MG, Penelope’s confidantes.

 

Josie laughs from Penelope’s ramble, but soon that laugh turned into a sob, a full blown sob as she just collapses to the floor.

 

Penelope is there to comfort her, she decides it’s time to ask her what happened, and you know, to be a real friend. So she does just that, she asks her what’s wrong. She tells her that she’s there for her.

 

Josie spills everything, all of the emotions she’s been bottling up for a month too long, for a minute too long, for any amount of time frame too long.

 

“It’s just that- I feel like- No, do your body ever feels like it’s too heavy? I mean, that’s what my body feels like. I can’t blame Lizzie though, she’s my sister. She doesn’t understand this because she has her own problems, and I love her too much to bury her problems with mine. Have you ever read the poem ‘Mirror’ by Sylvia Plath? It’s what I feel like, I feel like I’m the mirror just watching myself grow old, and I’m doing nothing about it. I’m only a listener, I follow everyone’s orders, and I do nothing for myself. I’m watching myself become a pushover and I- sometimes I want to do something for myself. Sure I’m only a teen, but I keep watching myself hold up these problems that I shouldn’t even have. I keep burying myself in everyone else’s problems. I don’t even remember why I hate you. I think one day, Lizzie just told me to hate you. And that’s what I did, I hated you”, Josie finishes, she looks up to the sky. The night is full of stars, so so many stars.

 

At this point, they’re both laying down. Penelope doesn’t answer her, only turns to smile at her. She points to a collection of stars;

 

“You see those stars there? And there? Those are ‘Altair’ and ‘Vega’. There’s this wicked story that follows them. There are many interpretations of the story, and many variations of them, but my favorite, my all time favorite is how they’re separated. It’s a cruel story, as it’s about a weaver girl and a cow herder. They fall in love, but the girl’s parents aren’t particularly happy about that, so they do what every rational parent does: carve a river between them”, Penelope says, pointing to each constellation.

 

Josie laughs slightly, she stopped crying a few minutes ago, she’s mostly looking at Penelope, occasionally at the stars to keep track.

 

Penelope continues, “It also explains why both constellations are so far from each other; it’s heartbreaking, really. If you think about it, they’re still together, just a distance apart. That’s how a lot of relationships work, you can be far from your loved one, but you’re still together. It doesn’t matter how far or close you are physically, you’re still together. If you look at it another way, the girl’s parents distanced her and her loved one mentally, which I think is more sad. It means love is fading, and I hate that. I hate how love fades”.

 

Penelope looks at Josie, just as Josie turns to look at Penelope. They just stare at each other, content in the silence.

 

Penelope is the first one to turn away, then points to more stars.

 

That’s how they spent their night, looking at the stars, and each other.

 

The day after, Josie and Lizzie made up, Lizzie’s trying to better herself after all. They both apologize to each other in their own respective ways, this is enough for them, they can’t stay mad at each other forever, can they? (They can’t).

 

Josie and Penelope don’t speak of that night. They fall into their usual routine.

 

This time though, they begin to communicate more. They talk about nothing and everything, especially when they’re on their late-night rooftop chats.

 

Penelope introduces Josie to her new favorite constellation. Well, she’s never had one before, but now she does.

 

“The Lost Pleiad: The Lost Sister. There was a cluster of 7 stars, referencing the 7 sisters, before, but now there are 6. It was said that one sister, Merope, the youngest too, was shunned and banished for marrying Sisyphus, a mortal. Man, why are these stories so sad?” Penelope finishes, she turns to Josie, waiting for her input.

 

Josie’s in awe, not just from the stars, but from Penelope. She’s always in awe, but this time, she’s full on starstruck at the cluster of stars (and at Penelope too, but when is she not at this point?).

 

Josie turns to Penelope after admiring the stars, tonight made her glow, it made Penelope really glow. This was the night she declared the heartbreaking story of Merope to be her favorite.

 

A week passes after that, Josie can’t tell if she still hates Penelope. At this point, she’s just rolling with it.

 

Josie goes to the library, slightly excited. Weird of her, since she’s been reminded of how terrible Penelope is by her sister. Josie just wants to have a few minutes to relax, frustration building up again.

 

This time though, when Josie arrives at the library, she finds her favorite spot unoccupied.

 

So she leaves, her thoughts of relaxing completely disregarded. Her heart hurts, from frustration and hatred towards Penelope Park.

 

As she walks pass the halls, she overhears her father in his office.

 

He’s on the phone with Penelope’s parents, _“Please, just call her, or leave her a voicemail at least. You know it’s her birthday, but no one else knows. I don’t know why she hasn’t told anyone. She misses you guys and she’s been asking you for you”._

 

Josie’s heard enough, her heart begins to hurt even more, it’s unexplainable now. Sure Penelope is her enemy, but she can practically feel her eyes beginning to well up. No one deserves to be disowned and ignored by their parents, not even Penelope Park, her sworn enemy. (Josie has chosen to forget that one special day, where she spilt her emotions out on that fateful rooftop).

She goes to the kitchen, and bakes a small cake. (Baking was a small passion of her’s).

 

Vanilla, nothing can go wrong with vanilla. After finishing, Josie plates the small cake, sticking a candle into it. As she begins to walk out of the kitchen, she runs into Lizzie.

 

“It’s Penelope’s birthday”, Josie says. Lizzie only looks at her and nods, moving out of the way for her.

 

Josie arrives to Penelope’s door, having last second hesitation. Her heart is practically on fire at this point, and gosh she really doesn’t know why.

From Penelope’s room, she can hear a song playing, she thinks it’s “Only in the West” by Yeek? She’s positive it is, she’s the one that showed her the song after all.

 

She knocks.

 

It takes awhile for Penelope to answer, but Josie is patient. She doesn’t think her heart is though.

 

After awhile, the door opens to a tear stained Penelope Park. (Josie still thinks she’s gorgeous though).

 

“No one wished you a happy birthday, we’re not really the best of friends but I just wanted to tell you that- I - uh, I hope you had a terrible birthday and that- “, Josie pauses. _Screw this._ She continues, “Who am I kidding at this point Penny? I know you didn’t have a good birthday, so I baked you this tiny, shitty, vanilla cake. It’s vegan though, if that helps. I’m sorry you didn’t have a good day today, and I’m all ears if you want to talk”.

 

Penelope laughs, like actually laughs. She laughs through her tears, which leads to Josie laughing too. They’re just two girls laughing in the hall of Penelope’s room. So, Penelope pulls Josie inside her room.

 

Josie’s pretty sure the song is on repeat, but she doesn’t mind.

 

They both lay down on Penelope’s bed after eating her cake. It was, as described by Penelope, “fucking delicious”.

 

Penelope doesn’t really go into detail of her problems, but that’s enough for Josie. She’s willing to be patient for her.

 

"Thank you, Jojo", Penelope whispers. They don't remember when they made nicknames for each other, but it sticks. They don't mind this, they're happy with this. This level of comfort.  

 

The song finally changes, changing to, “Don’t Think, Just Do”, by Dream, Ivory.

 

They’re both looking at Penelope’s ceiling, littered by glow in the dark stars. They don’t feel the need to communicate, they’re content, with the music flowing through the room.

 

Penelope’s in awe, just from Josie.

 

They both look at each other, eyes glowing from whatever light there was left in the night.

 

There, in the comfort of Penelope’s room, with the soft music flowing, they kiss.

 

Josie’s heart hurts, her heart hurts so much from love. _(It was never hate)._

**Author's Note:**

> i hope u liked it
> 
> uh follow me on twitter: @pennymfpark
> 
> give me some feedback yeah
> 
> have a lovely day sweetheart


End file.
